News...

Ok, so I haven't been all that good at posting lately, its not that I haven't been around but I've been spending lots of time here: www.afropunk.com I don't even remember how I found this site but I can't wait to see the film. As soon as things calm down around here I'll be doing my best to arrange a screening down here, although I wonder exactly how many people will get it. I've been holding out on commenting on the London Bombings, like most Americans I grieve the loss of life, but unless it happens on our shores it is too distant to have a real impact. The news agencies, as usual, within ten minutes of having some idea how many people died, zeroed in on the Americans among them. As I was watching with a fair amount of emotional detachment, the singling out of this one among the crowd made me shiver. Not because it was something I could identify with, but because of the sheer cynicism of the attempt to make it “hit home” by inclusion. Unfortunately for me, and I'm sure many others, the attempt to link this far away event by showing its impact on one soul fell flat. I guess I just am so deluged with talk of terrorism that I have become almost immune to the horror. That is sad. Closer to home, this: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050702/ap_on_go_su_co/scotus_o_connor has me worried. This: attackhttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/21/politics/main533998.shtml almost gave me a heart. Thank goodness the second story has proven to be false...for now. Bad enough that Bush has the ability to choose the next nominee but to have the ability to choose 2 would have been devastating to those who value their freedom. Congress has been complacent, to say the least, about countering Bush's continuing assault on freedom of speech through hefty fines issued by the FCC, Its insistence upon prying into our personal lives while thwarting any attempt at examination of the administrations shady dealings and even shadier pasts. Ironic how the federal government has the ability to spy on its citizens yet they as individuals have done everything to hide Bush's personal past including his alleged AWOL, drug use, and abuse of his position as a privileged citizen. Even more ironic is the fact that meetings between government and business (Enron)  have been kept from public scrutiny when it is well known that these meetings have an impact on federal policy. This administration is one of the most secretive, in recent memory. Rivaling, in my mind, that of Nixon in its ability to bob and weave its way out of trouble. Yet we go idly along, ambling into the dark.